Australasian Dirt Bike – May 2019

PASTRANA LIVING HIS BEST LIFE

Travis Pastrana is one of the legends of our sport. There is not much he hasn’t achieved throughout his
career. At 35, you wouldn’t blame him for taking a back seat and focusing on family and business, but
the Nitro Circus ringleader is still out there riding for the pure fun of it. Last year he represented
Puerto Rico in the Motocross of Nations at Red Bud and just recently, he made a last minute decision to
race the opening round of the GNCC at Wild Boar. Pastrana isn’t known for his enduro skills, but he ran
near the front on his Suzuki RM250 until his hands started blistering. Still, he fi nished the race. As we
went to print, Travis was also set to line up at the Super Hooligan Exhibition race at the opening round
of the American Flat Track series. He told the organisers he only races Suzuki two-strokes, so they got
him a Suzuki 750cc from Roland Sands Designs.

AUSTIN FORKNER’S PIXY STIX

In an age of elite training, fi tness, sports

science nutrition and performance enhancing

drugs, it’s clear that athletes are exploring all

options when it comes to achieving ultimate

success. Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Austin

Forkner has caused a stir with the substances

he takes to replenish energy, but it’s certainly

not on the WADA banned list. No, Forkner’s

secret is Pixy Stix. Pixy Stix are tubes of

coloured sugar. It’s essentially a candy and is

similar to sherbet. Apparently Forkner believes

it gives him a sugar hit in-between races. Of

course, if you’ve played football or other team

sports, you’ll know about the halftime oranges

or snakes, but Pixy Stix? Now we’ve heard it all.

THE TALL AND SHORT OF IT

KTM is about to embark on it’s fi rst season

with a fully-fl edged factory outfi t in the

Amercian Flat Track (AFT) series. The Orange

Brigade has employed the services of Dan

Bromley and Shayna Texter, who will both

compete in the AFT Singles class abord the

KTM 450 SX-F. Bromley is the reigning AFT

Singles champion while Texter fi nished third.

Interestingly, the AFT website lists Bromley

as 6ft 2in and Texter as 5ft. If you look

closely at the picture, Texter’s bike seems to

be a little lower than Bromley’s, which is

understandable. They say age is no barrier,

and it appears height isn’t either when it

comes to fl at track.

http://www.adbmag.com.au MAY 2019| 25

Did you know that actor Steve

McQueen raced in the International Six

Day Trial? The American competed in

1964 in East Germany. He funded what

became the fi rst offi cial team from

the USA. He rode a Triumph but retired

after crashing.

By the

Numbers

24

Most AMA Motocross race wins in a

season, by Carmichael and Stewart

(perfect season)

72

Supercross wins by Jeremy McGrath

30,396

Kilometres covered by Ewan and

Charley in the Long Way Round

23

All-time Speedway Grand Prix wins

record, set by Jason Crump

115

Years since Beta Motorcycles began

Did you

know?

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“My biggest competition for the

championship is Jeffrey Herlings

himself. I might have possibly

ruined another championship

by taking myself out of the hunt

early due to injury.”

Jeffrey Herlings on missing the

opening rounds of MXGP.